????....Can you elaborate on these two thoughts?
I hope the first one isn't a problem. Jesus suffered for us and gained our redemption. Without the suffering, no redemption. Therefore suffering is redemptive.
The second sentence is an elaboration of the idea that when bad things happen to us, for good reason or for no reason, we can take solace in knowing that our suffering is not unlike that which Jesus suffered. If His suffering could bring great good and salvation to the world, we can also take heart that our suffering is not without its fruits. Our own suffering can be an instrument of our own redemption, our own sanctification, if it is used to make us more holy.
The main point being that if God came down and suffered, we can certainly expect the same. And that the suffering, if linked to that of Jesus, can have great effects on ourselves and on others. Suffering is not meaningless, suffering leads to greater good in the future. That is a promise and an example given by Jesus Himself.
SD
Do you have a scripture of this promise?
Jesus suffered for us and gained our redemption. Without the suffering, no redemption. Therefore suffering is redemptive.
This logic is sorta of like the logic that since Mary is Jesus' mother she is a co-redeemer.Yes, Jesus suffered, but the suffering was not what redeemed us. It was his death, His shed blood. Granted to get there He did suffer, but I don't see suffering as "redemptive." Suffering strengtens our faith, because we learn more and more to trust in Jesus. God did not remove Pauls "thorn in the flesh" to keep him weak which in turns kept him trusting in Jesus' rather then his own strengh, but that suffering did not redeem Paul.
Becky